Stepping away from the captives I activated the stealth feature and gauged the distance to the top of the building where the guard was on watch. Thirty feet wasn’t too bad, and if anyone saw me they would attribute what I was about to do to the armor. A quick jumping shift sent me upwards towards the enemy, as I came out of the shift at speed I let my left arm hook the man around the neck and jaw to alter my trajectory. The crack of his neck was followed by my soundless landing on the top of the building. I snapped the MP5 up and fired two rounds into the hostile that was leaning towards the courtyard and calling the alarm. A few quick steps across the room took me to the section that overlooked the eastern gate to the compound. Four men moved toward the gate.

“Now that just isn’t fair. Well not fair for them,” I said as I dropped the camouflage and shifted again.

Aspects bless my sister, she got the efficiency runes just right in this gear. I could feel the spine break on the man I impacted and a few short bursts of 9mm dealt with the other three before they registered that I was among them. “And who the fuck are you supposed to be?” came an accented voice from where the main door to the building was.

I turned to look at the speaker, not saying a word. The man was rather large, standing easily six and a half feet, dark hair, skin tone a few shades darker than the average for the region, and built like he juggled barbells. Definitely don’t want to let him grapple me. Another slightly shorter man with a close enough cast of features to make me assume they were related stepped out to the speaker’s side. He was a more wiry build, but the part that really drew my attention was how the shadows from the doorway shifted and wove around him. Shadow manipulation at the very least.

I hadn’t seen any weapons in the building that could hurt me in my current armor when the fight inevitably happened, but they were focused on me now so I stayed standing in plain view and stared at the two brothers that I assumed were the ones known as Djinn. “My brother asked you a question foriegn kalb. We might make it quick if you answer our questions.”

With an unseen grin I cocked my head at the two as if I was confused. The bigger of the two raised his hand and a torrent of fire leapt from it to flow over my armor. I didn’t even feel the heat, but I noticed the motion sensor system showing me that he was steadily walking forward as he tried to burn me. To keep up the act, or not to keep up the act; decisions, decisions.

Tucking the MP5 back behind me I drew the revolver that Rhi had included. Might as well test all the gear. Judging by his approach and size he should be about there. I squeezed the trigger and the bark of the heavy caliber round was followed by a cry of pain as the fire cut off and I watched the bigger man stumble to a knee, a large hole in his leg leaking red. My gun tracked to where the smaller of the pair was giving me an angry glare and I fired again. This time however I saw the shadows that were circling him spark slightly as the round vanished. A small impact on my helmet told me what happened.

Fuck, manipulation and portals. That was a combination that could give me trouble if he had taken the time to actually learn how to achieve that kind of defense. A sizzling sound reached my ears and I almost gaped at the larger of the pair rising and putting weight on his injured leg. My augmented vision showed a burn scar over the wound and it was all I could do to not curse aloud. Fire based healing was painful, and difficult to master. These two had obviously honed their Talents to a degree that I hadn’t seen since my last life. Now I understood why the camp didn’t have heavy weapons, these two would most likely make them redundant. If the shadow manipulator had power to go with the control he had demonstrated so far then even a missile strike wasn’t going to be a viable tactic.

I tried to shoot the larger brother again but shadows reached up to cover his torso and the round once again impacted me, his brother protecting him and allowing him to get close. Well if he wanted to play that way I would just have to oblige him. Stepping into his charge I began a flying knee strike as I triggered a shift to increase the impact, catching him in the solar plexus as the momentum of my strike took us both airborne. As we began our descent I evaded his grasping hands by triggering another shift towards the smaller of the pair. He must not have seen my earlier shift because the shadows didn’t stop me from driving him back into the building. Unlike his brother he seemed less able to handle the impact and I felt bones cracking under my attack. Taking the moment of distraction I put the revolver to his head and squeezed the trigger. A fine red mist erupted as my opponent slumped and a scream of rage sounded off behind me.

With my off hand I drew the blade from my back and shifted back outside, exiting the motion just before reaching the fire manipulator and, like the minions of the old ones during my previous life, removed his head at the neck.

Standing tall in the courtyard I let my gaze travel along the line of hostiles that watched me fearfully. None of them moved, one of them even had a wet patch growing on his trousers, and I tried not to laugh. They must not have expected anyone to be able to deal with their two adepts. A shot rang through the air and a spark flashed off the visor of my helmet. I quickly raised the revolver and fired back at where the person was and was rewarded with a scream and a thump as the man fell from the watchtower he had been manning. Once again I trailed my vision across the men gathered to try and stop me. When none made any moves I turned and slowly started walking towards the gate, prepared to shift the minute I started taking fire.

I was a little surprised when no gunfire erupted behind me. With a small smile I activated the camouflage as I reached the gate and faded from view. That produced some gasps and murmurs of Shaitan and Djinn. I kept walking, following the tracks of the escaped prisoners that lead towards my men.

As I crested the ridge I let myself become visible once more and called out, “Sergeant, report.”

“Seventeen hostages accounted for and Timmons has called for a convoy to meet us a couple of clicks north of here. Everyone seems healthy enough to manage that. Are you okay sir?” the sergeant responded.

“I’m uninjured, though I don’t think I’m going to be pulling the armor off for a little bit. I’m emulating a cookie sheet right now, not to mention I don’t want to give up the sensor suite until the civilians are out of danger,” I said.

“Right, let's move people,” he called out and began herding my men and the rescued captives in the direction of our extraction.

Taking the rear position I focused more on the motion sensors than the conversation going on around me.It took about thirty minutes of walking due to the children present to reach our rendezvous and I was able to start divesting myself of the armor. Part of me was sad to part with the gear, knowing that it would be some time before I was able to use the enchanted armor again, or at least a set of it.

One of the younger boys said from nearby, “Aww, you’re not Batman anymore.”

I smiled at the kid before I replied, “Sorry kid, I wish I could be Batman. I’ll have to settle on just being a soldier, that okay with you?”

The young boy gave me a gap toothed grin and said, “I think I like you being a soldier better. Batman has to arrest the bad guys.”

I reached out and ruffled the dark hair of the boy before helping him into the truck with the others. Before I climbed up I focused on the pile of armor and said, “Tha mo uaireadair seachad.”

A hissing and crackling sound came from the armor and I watched as it started to smoke before the flexible pieces caught on fire. A small bit of focused energy flowed out from me to the gear and I found that none of the runes were present anymore on the pieces that weren’t burning. So she had a hidden set to liquify that control array and let it overcharge, which burnt the rest away.

I pulled myself up into the back of the truck and accepted my rifle from Timmons before the sergeant banged on the back of the cab and we started moving. Now all I had to deal with would be the inquisition from the officers back at camp as to why I didn’t bring the gear back for study. It was true what they said, no good deed goes unpunished. As we drove we heard the explosion from the compound as the drone support finished the job of removing it from the board.